allies during world war i. in this 25-minute film, president hoover details woodrow wilson's efforts to the versailles piece treating and his failed attempt to approve membership in the new league of nations. april 6 marks the centennial of the u.s. declaration of war on germany in 1917. announcer: this is the story of the valor of one american president as told by another american resident. the ordeal of woodrow wilson. ♪ narrator: a personal memoir by herbert hoover. woodrow wilson fought another great war.

the greatest the united states had ever fought. >> simultaneously, woodrow wilson fought another great war. the war against hunger, pestilence, famine, and disease. in this crusade his commander was herbert hoover who was also high in the council to conduct of the war itself. people idolized woodrow wilson. he was the hope of the world-war-weary masses. when he left france for his own country, for washington, he found a hostile element in the u.s. senate who bitterly opposed his idea for a league of nations. woodrow wilson set out across the country in a valorous attempt to rally the american people to his shining visions. the abolition of wars from the earth forever. happened during his years of ordeal. what happened to the man himself? the tragic story of the 20th

president of the united states, a democrat, is told now in a unique historical tribute by the 31st president of the united states. a republican. by herbert hoover. he speaks out of personal experience almost a half a century after the event because he believes the ideals of america's great should be kept fresh in american memory. >> i served for three years directly under woodrow wilson in washington, d.c., and at the peace conference in paris. i came to know his philosophy of life, his humane spirit, and his idealism. i saw him rise to the highest intellectual leadership of mankind and all history. i was a witness to the ordeals which beset him and the tragedy which finally envelope 10 and -- enveloped him and the whole

world. like all human beings, he made mistakes. but smaller minds exaggerate their weight in the skills of history. from my discussions with the president, early in 1917, i knew the ordeal which came to him in recommending to the congress its most solemn decision since the civil war. that is the declaration of war on germany. in that great address of april 2, 1917, the president said "the present german submarine warfare against commerce is warfare against mankind. we are now about to engage in battle. the world must be made safe for democracy and we shall fight for

the things which we have always carried nearest to our hearts. for the rights and liberties of small nations. for universal dominion of right by such a concert as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself free. america, with god helping her, can do no other." narrator: from the moment -- he was -- with the enormous task of immobilizing 4 million men who enlisted or responded to the draft. they went to reception centers, got their civilian identities, became uniformed trainees, and were turned into fighters. >> they had come from an ivory tower academic life. he demonstrated great

administrative abilities on temporary misfits. he surrounded himself with a war staff from the best of american life. and from the beginning, woodrow wilson looked beyond the winning of the war. his consuming purpose was to make sure that the world would have a lasting reach. -- peace. in january 1918, 9 months after the declaration of war, the president, in an eloquent address to the congress, lay down his 14 points which must dominate the making of these. in subsequent addresses, he added further principles and actions until they amounted to 35 points and all. therein, woodrow wilson proposed a new order and a new era in world affairs.

narrator: but the war continued in all of its fury. new weapons joined the arsenal of warfare. bigger, and bigger guns. for the first time, warplanes. killed andgas maimed. artillery, effective since napoleon's day, was replaced by another kind of calvary weapon. the tank. but woodrow wilson's weapons were ideas and ideals. to the great masses of the people of the world who were bloody and battered and sickened by war, woodrow wilson brought a new hope. >> as he reached out across the world, ideas more explosive than slippedage, they through the enemy lines, under enemy doors. his words drew wedges between the german people and their autocratic leader. they lifted the hopes of people

among the oppressed of all mankind. exhausted, starving, defeated in battle, october 1918, [indiscernible]. the signing of the armistice agreement on november 11 1918 was the mark of abject surrender by the central barge. the fighting men joyously climbed out of the trenches and fraternize to within the barbed wire of no man's land. ♪ the achievement by the president was an bodied in these.

he secured the agreement of both of the allies and the enemy states that the basis of peace should be has points. never before in history had there been such a triumph of moral leadership. a few days after the armistice, president wilson let it be known that he proposed to go to paris as the head of the american peace delegation. many of his associates, including myself, advised him not to go. we argued that he would be involved in secret committee meetings where his, the most powerful voice in the world, would be still. we believe that from the white house it could be thunder and lightning to the whole world. but that in paris, he would be trapped and intrigued. our armed services fought for the ideals of our country. it is now my duty to play my

full part in making good what they neglected to obtain. narrator: however, from his knowledge of centuries of failure and trying to prevent war and have peace, it was inevitable that woodrow wilson would leave for europe. he boarded the steamship george washington accompanied by his wife, his physician admiral grayson, and a number of aides. ♪ narrator: president wilson arrived in france in 1918.

>> he was received by masses of people everywhere with an almost religious fervor. to them, no man of such moral power, no such an evangelist of peace, had appeared since christ preached the sermon on the mount. everywhere men believed a new era had come to mankind. the star of bethlehem was rising again. at this moment, woodrow wilson had reached a zenith of intellectual and spiritual leadership never before achieved by any world statesman. but while mr. wilson was the -- was familiar with the historical, political, and economic part which controlled the old world, he had little understanding of the deep emotions which had been stirred by the war.

among the allies, during those past four years almost every home had sacrificed a son, a father, or a loved one. they had been ruthlessly attacked and had suffered hideous destruction and brutal hardships and they were now confronted with enormous debts, huge obligations to widows, orphans, and disabled veterans. they were impoverished. expressing these emotions of hardships, the prime minister had just won the british election on a platform of "hang the kaiser." won a vote of confidence from the french assembly by an address promising to demand reparations and the reduction of germany to a nation of impotence.

♪ >> prime minister or orlando of italy, a nation wracked with hardships and riddled with emotions, demanded war reparations and territorial spoils. on january 18, 1919, the greatest peace conference since> the congress of vienna 100 years before was opened by an eloquent address by president wilson. 16 new nations had established their independence. fixed in the blood of many of their delegates at the peace table were 1000 years of distrust and hate. and the representatives of all of the european nations could

not survive at home if they brought back nothing more than a political treaty. all their peoples were demanding nothing less than reparations, spoils, punishment for the enemy. even though they had agreed to mr. wilson's 14 points, these delegates were determined not to let idealism stand in their way. not when it conflicted with their own purposes and desires. such were the destructive forces that sat at the peace table at versailles. and their power was greater than knew.ow wilson ne but woodrow wilson was presented with problems besides making the peace.

raising the curtain on the raging famine of hundreds of millions of people. there was more than famine to contend with. a great typhus epidemic was raging in eastern europe. millions had already died and millions more would die unless there was quick action to control it. the blockade was continued against germany for 4.5 months after the armistice despite the implied promise to supply food under the agreement. while the set with vast political problems, woodrow wilson still supported the greatest battle against famine and pestilence in the history of the world. a letter from my organization to the president asking for millions of money brought an immediate reply on the margin. approved, w.w.

in late february 1919, the president had need to return to washington for the opening of congress on march 4. he came home to meet his first rebuff. 37 members of the new senate led by senator lott had signed a protest resolution that the constitution of the league of nations in the form proposed to the peace conference should not be accepted. the president reacted with a shocked defiance and talked to the press and the people. with american and world opinion on his side, he felt confident of the final outcome.

upon president wilson's return to paris, with the three prime ministers, he took over the final stages of the making of the treaty and secret sessions. within these big for meetings, the president was confronted with adamant opposition to many of his basic proposals of peace. but the world coal for the lead lead him back into the big four sessions. only by making the treaty with germany, could he secured the signatures of the 27 people at the table as well as the enemy signatories. thus bringing the league into being. the president decided to make the compromises demanded by the

allies. they gained the dismemberment of the enemy empire and the annexation of great territory. they won their demands for impossible reparation. on may 7, 1919, a draft of the treaty was given to the waiting german delegation in paris. they were allowed two weeks to propose modifications. when the proposals were received, the president made a valeant effort to modify the terms. at the time ministers were adamant. the german delegation refused to sign. return it to germany. under the threat of renewed blockade on their food supply or invasion by the allied armies, the germans sent the small

delegation back to paris to sign. on june 28, 1919, these new german representatives and all the 27 allied delegations convened in the hall of mirrors at versailles to witness the signing of the treaty. many of our american colleagues witnessed the littering ceremonies with sinking hearts for the future of the world. all of the allied statesman's -- -- statesman left paris. the ailing president came home. found voices like these. a senator from idaho said, it took george washington seven years to gain independence from george the third and now my friends, they want to give it

back to george the fifth. and senator hiram johnson added, he is asking us to hand of american destiny over to the secret counsels of europe. it is the duty of senators of this nation to keep america american. a few democratic senators said it was the end of american independence. the league was in mortal danger. woodrow wilson did not wait. against dispositions warning, september 4, 1919, he started west on a long, exhausting trip to carry his fight for ratification to the american people. ♪

>> many senators demanded reservations to the treaty. others were violently opposed to ratification in any form. it was not the faulty peace settlement that troubled them so much, but the commitment to the league. some argued it created a superstate and argued under the covenant the league might force our nation into a war without the consent of congress. and 22 days, wilson made 40 addresses in 17 cities. he was against any change in the covenant of the league. the text was already signed by nearly two nations. he insisted we had no right to change it now. ♪ >> on the 21st day of his crusade in colorado, he

collapsed. the long strain had been too much. the president was rushed back to washington. he lay prostrate for months. these were the vital months when the crucial battles over the league and the treaty were being waged in the senate. twice the senate voted on the treaty. twice it was defeated. narrator: in 1921, mr. wilson, with his illness all too evident, left the white house on his way to his new home. there, as in invalid he frequently stepped out of doors to acknowledge the affection of admirers. he lived quietly on f street for three more years. the public's last view of it was at an upstairs window.

>> woodrow wilson lived to see some of his defeats become victories. he saw -- of freedom bring independence too many nations. above all, he lived to see the league of nations come into being at the hands of the old world. he saw a settlement of dangerous controversies and the making of many treaties which aided the economic health of the world. he lived to see the international labor organization and mr. wilson -- had mr. wilson lived just two decades longer he would of seen the dragon's teeth sowed in versailles bring another equally terrible war. out of this second world war, he

would of seen the rise of the league concept again under the name of the united nations. this new organization to peace clearly follows the pattern of woodrow wilson posit league accept for one important particular. woodrow wilson would never have agreed to accept dictators to membership. and when mr. wilson died, his epitaph may well have been the oration delivered by pericles 2000 years ago over the greeks who had given their lives for their country. so they gave their bodies to the commonwealth and received, each memory, praise that

will never die and with it the grandest of all sepulchers -- not one in which their mortal bones are laid, but a home in the minds of men where they remain fresh to stir to speech our action as the occasion comes by it. for the whole earth is a sepulcher of famous men and their story is not graven only on stone over their native earth, but lives on far away without visible symbol woven into the stuff of other men's lives. ♪

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on the communicators, president and ceo jonathan talks about the internet and telecom monday nigt on the landscapes as congress take steps to roll that privacy rules adopted by the fcc last october. he is interviewed by tech and telecom reporter david shepardson. voted 250-255 to reversals privacy rules. what other protections that you see in the wake of that vote? >> consumers yesterday and today have strong privacy protections that ensure that the protection of their sensitive david -- data. our company is in line that sensitive data and other deeply sensitive aspects of our sensitive lives should not be transacted or shared. we are all committed to that. good that the current chairman of the fcc and the interim chairman have joined as we move say that,

forward to evolving the frameworks for privacy and future, trying to make it more persistent to harmonize. they will be acting together to ensure that our consumers receive the kinds of the communicators monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> up next on american history tv, "reel america," as the centennial of u.s. entry into world war i approaches, we present "america goes over," a 1918 silent film documenting the u.s. experience and world war i. we invited to scholars -- two scholars to provide context and commentary throughout the film, made by the u.s. army signal corps. "america goes over," is one of many silent world war i films that the national archives has restored. this is about one hour.